Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1887-11-04
Badly Formed Limbs.


Comparatively few men hayereal.
ly straight legs. ! find that not
more than one in three OF the men
who pass me are straight-limbed.-
Most of them are bow or handy.
legged, some of them knock-kneed,
and in a few instances both legs
bend the same way. 1t is noticed
that, as a rule, the stout, heavy
men have parenthesis legs, while
those of slighter build in many
cases, their bodies on a figure re.
semblIng an X. The rule does not
always hold, however. Many men
of no inconsiderable avoirdupois
strike their knees together when
they walk. 1t is not uncommon to
see a long, lanky man, whose legs
are so bent that he is physically IN.
capacitated from stopping the tra-
ditional pig in the alley way. Ere
quently bow.leggedness is associat.
ed with strength. Itisusually seen
in short, sturdy men. Those who
are knock. .kneed have no such rec
ompense, unless the excuse for re-
newing trousers, which are con.
stantly worn out at the knees by
chatting one against the other, be
construed as such.
1t is a fact that very few persons
have straight legs. 1t is hard to
say Just what 1t is. Many say that
It is because children are made to
walk when they are too young
Mothers like to see their little ones
on their feet at as early an age as
possible, and so sometimes force
them to stand before their legs are
able to bear the weight of their
bodies. Nurses, too, when they
take children out for an airing, OF.
ten make them walk without their
parents knowledge. Undoubtedly
this is sometimes the cause of the
deformity. Probably many man
owes his curved legs to a careless
nurse, who got tired of carrying
him when he was a baby. and put
him down when away from his
mother. Others say, with good
reason also, that it is due to baby
carriages. The child is wheeled
about until it is quite old. It's
body is thus developed while it's
legs are doing nothing, and when
finally it is made to use them they,
being still soft, bend under the
weight of the body. l believe this
treatment of children is responsible
for more bow.leggedness than any
thing else.
When young the bones have lit
tie rigidIty, and are easily bent
Unfortunately they have little elias.
ticity either, and readily take a SET.
The proportion of cartilage and
mineral matter varies in different
children, so that it is impossible to
give any fixed age at which they
should be made to walk. Many
can walk we'll at twelve months old,
while Others cannot do so until they
are two years old. In some chill
dren there is an unusual proportion
of sinew in the bone, and in these
cases the legs are almost certain TO
become crooked. In these instances
braces can be used with advantage
until the bones harden. This sim.
ple remedy is rarely used, however,
sometimes because the tendency is
not noticed until it il too late, The
legs bend one way or the other very
gradually and when tbecurve is per-
ceptibe It is usually past the cure OF
braces. This condition of the bone
is often due to insufficient food and
general neglect. Unless the blood
is kept rich and healthy the bones
are apt to be retarded in develop
ment, and so remaining soft, are
readily twisted. Sometimes bow
legged children become straight
when they grow older. In my own
experience have seen this occur,
but it is Impossible to foretell if the
curve in a child's legs will straight
en- out in after years or notion.
don Paper.